Bottled Water and Descalling Espresso Machine

Thanks @Rob1 , if my results for the tap water are accurate is it boiler safe water, it would appear to be better than the Ashbeck is my understanding?

Local authority test results for my postcode are 25mg HCO3/l and 31.24 CaCOmg/l , although they were taken in 2019.

I must carry out the test with different levels of Bicarbonate added to the Ashbeck.

One final question , is there a particular test kit for home use that is more accurate than another ?

Ok , one more ….. Is a TDS meter worth using ?

Thanks again.

Rob1 Hi Rob. How do you put this 400ml only into the service boiler as I’m assuming you wouldn’t want it in the brew boiler?

simonc

The excess from the distiller per run is stored away and is used for making concentrates and filling the service boiler. I remove the anti-vac valve and pour it in rather than run the pump on and off until the boiler fills, mainly because it’s less faff than messing about with the reservoir and I don’t have to listen to the pump running.

prezes

If you held the droppers perfectly upright and squeezed on drop at a time, you stop at the first colour change and your results will be consistent….

So with that said.

Service Boiler:

GH - 10 drops = 179 / 4 = >44.75 <49.23

KH - 7 drops = 125.3 / 4 = >31.32 <35.8

RO Water:

GH - 6 drops = 107.4 / 4 = >26.85 <31.33

KH - 5 drops = 89.5 / 4 = >22.37 <26.85

Testing your service boiler water 7 weeks after the last drain and drawing a cup of water a week is of little use unless you’ve managed to just about identify the point it might become a problem. Depending on the temp you run your service boiler at (assuming 125c) it’s about time to empty the boiler again. A small increase in alkalinity and you’ll start to get some scale.

Rob1 Thanks Rob.

I tend to refresh the boiler every 8 weeks so was about to do it. My service boiler is set to 129 Celsius

• Would it it be best to test the water weekly and as soon as notice increase in KH assume it’s time to refill ?
• Is the water fed acceptable to should I change something to achieve the ‘sweet spot’ between scaling and corrosion?

prezes You’ll see an increase after you steam, so no not really. Technically there is no sweet spot as both corrosion and scaling change with temperature. Increasing alkalinity a little more to 40-50mg/l will be good for corrosion it likely won’t for scaling. Whether or not the corrosion will ever be something you suffer for is another matter. Plenty of people have been using ashbeck and water of a similar spec to your RO long term without reporting issues.

If I were you I’d be increasing alkalinity and descaling the service boiler as I wouldn’t want to brew coffee with water that low in alkalinity, but if it doesn’t bother you there’s no reason to not carry on as you are. I’d check the water after a week and you can just calculate from there how much additional hardness and alkalinity you will get over x weeks assuming you tend to make the same number and type of drinks and just flush according to that rather than try to test and catch it exactly at the point you need to empty to boiler.

MWJB I can see you are very well informed re water quality and certainly a lot more than I am. Could I ask your opinion on using osmio zero with their cartridge supplied fitted. I appreciate it introduces some calcium carbonate (I believe) but apparently such a small amount that the water is still considered soft. Would this be ok to use or is any level of calcium or magnesium a big no no to espresso machines.

prezes Are you sure those numbers are correct? With new mineralisation cartridge, I would expect the alkalinity of about 35mg/l to 45 mg/l. The GH look correct, though it can even be about 15/16 mg/l. These are my average during the last 20 months of use.

Perhaps, your hard water filter is the reason! How does the hard water filter work with Osmio Zero? What are your pure RO readings? Thx

prezes @LMSC

These were my readings on original
Filters with about 4 months use. That’s why I’m
Surprised. I think I’ll repeat the test

coffeealex I appreciate it introduces some calcium carbonate (I believe) but apparently such a small amount that the water is still considered soft. Would this be ok to use or is any level of calcium or magnesium a big no no to espresso machines.

I think @LMSC , @DavecUK and @dfk41 , and there may be others, have been using the Osmio with the remineralisation cartridge for a while now, so you could also ask them. 👍

prezes I’m guessing the remineralisation cartridge is spent as your water just reflects what you’d expect from straight RO water.

Rob1 this would make sense but I replaced all the filters at the same time including the cartridge.

I will repeat the test tomorrow and see what I get back

Second attempt this morning and it took 4 drops for first change of colour…
GH - 4 drops 71.6 / 4 = 17.9
KH - 4 drops 71.6 / 4 = 17.9

Could be the water needs to sit in the tank to be effectively remineralised. If you filter and dispense straight away maybe it doesn’t work?

Rob1 I was thinking this might be the case but I changed the filters last Sunday so been a while. The water dispensed wasn’t freshly filtered. Maybe the remineralisation filter needs time to be fully active?